FANTASY HOCKEY

{"playerId":1699,"percentChange":1.8,"averageDraftPosition":142.4,"percentOwned":79.1,"playerRaterSEASON":3.5,"playerRater7DAY":5.3,"mostRecentNews":{"news":"Ellis extended his point streak to four games with his seventh goal of the season in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Coyotes.","spin":"Ellis has been absolutely on fire since the start of February, with 19 points in his last 20 games. He now has 24 points in 32 games since missing the first three months of the season with a knee injury, and he's a big reason why the Preds are currently the top team in the Western Conference. It's taken a few years for Ellis to display the same scoring prowess he showed back in junior with OHL Windsor, but he's really showing that he belongs among the elite offensive blueliners in the NHL right now. He should be in your fantasy lineups whenever the Preds take to the ice.","date":"Fri Mar 16"},"fullName":"Ryan Ellis","seasonOutlook":{"outlook":"In a devastating development, the Predators announced that Ellis will miss the first half of the season due to a knee injury. He burst onto the national scene with five goals and eight assists in 22 games during last season's run to the Stanley Cup Final, but had been quietly impressing for the Predators well before then. While the undersized 2009 first-rounder took a while to acclimate to the NHL game, he has shown steady offensive growth by progressing from 27 to 32 to 38 points over the past three seasons. Ellis also owns a plus-38 rating in that stretch, and upon his return, he should continue to pile up impressive numbers as an integral part of Nashville's stacked top four on the blue line.","seasonId":2018,"date":"Mon Sep 18"},"playerRater30DAY":12.6,"playerRater15DAY":10.9,"positionRank":49}

Every team has issues -- even the top-ranked Golden Knights (paltry penalty kill). This week's rankings are full of concerns, including whether the Rangers can find help for Henrik Lundqvist or the Penguins can procure scoring from their bottom six.

It's time for a reset in the NHL, so we checked to see if teams are ahead of, behind or on pace with the projected point totals. The Lightning keep striking, and it seems fitting that the team Vegas (and everyone else) was most wrong about was ... Vegas.

When you are two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup, you don't really need to do much to get better. But the big unknown is whether P.K. Subban and the goaltending can survive the absence of a key teammate to injury.

General manager David Poile and coach Peter Laviolette noticed how the Predators picked defenseman Roman Josi to drive a sword into the field before the NFL's Tennessee Titans' home opener with the NHL team serving an honorary role pregame.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl combined for 177 points last season. Here's how they stack up to other top twosomes -- like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane -- from a stats and Stanley Cup-potential perspective.

Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis played in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins after battling an undisclosed injury. Ellis exited the Predators' 6-0 loss in Game 5 on Thursday night with 16:02 remaining in the second period.